Guys, I’m a little peeved today so I need to vent to my fellow pug brothers and sisters.

So, I like to bark a little bit when my human is away – so what? You guys all do that, too, right? Well, my dad said that our neighbors mentioned the barking to him yesterday and now he says I have a “barking problem”.

If anything, the “problem” is that I don’t get to bark enough. Like when that monstrous garbage truck comes rolling up the alley every Wednesday. I mean, how else is it gonna know to stop at our building if I don’t signal it via barking?!

Anyway, he started yammering on about “getting kicked out of the apartment” and “homeless” this and that. I basically tuned out until I head the words “Dog Appeasing Pheromones”. So dad, you are planning to make me stop barking with DOG PERFUME? C’mon.

Well, the next thing you know he orders a D.A.P. Diffuser online because the neighbor that mentioned the barking told my dad that a friend of hers used it and it helped with her dog’s separation anxiety. SEPARATION ANXIETY?! I’m actually the least stressed when I’m home alone because its the time when I get to do exactly what I want to do. Also, I’m 7 puggin’ years old – technically I’m more of an adult than you are, dad!

Well, anyway, I don’t know what this dog perfume is supposed to do exactly but I hope it doesn’t like hypnotize me or anything. Have any of you guys ever tried this D.A.P. stuff? I read some of the reviews on Amazon and some people LOOOOVE the stuff, others totally thing it’s a SCAM.

Well, whatever it does, there’s no way it’s going to curb my baby carrot obsession. I can guarantee that!

Congratulations to all the readers that guessed who the special guests staying at Pug Slope HQ this past weekend were…

It was none other than DONALD and DAISY from Pug-a-Boo, along with their ‘rents Tim and Christy (who also happen to be the ‘rents of Angel Payton). That’s Daisy on the left, Sid in the middle, and Donald on the right.

As soon as the comments starting coming in on Friday’s post, I was astonished by how many people guessed the special guests correctly. I thought I had withheld the details and kept things vague enough but either you guys used some mystical psychic pug juju or Sid hacked my email account again and published all the details on wikileaks.

The photo above doesn’t quite convey the extreme size difference of Sid compared to either Donald or Daisy. D & D are practically “pockets pugs” compared to Sid.

More details of the pug party to come later this week! Stay tuned!

This past weekend was The Weekend of Spring Cleaning and General Pug Maintenance.

First up – Sid’s three beds. As you have probably seen from recent photos, Sid’s beds were looking downright unruly. The worst of the bunch, his “dirty bed”, is named as such because that’s where I give him Wigzi balls and/or Kongs stuffed with PEANUT BUTTER every day for lunch.

Despite Sid’s best attempts at devouring every morsel, including the remnants of peanut butter that get mashed into the fabric, the bed was looking pretty grimy. The fabric resembled some kind of animal print, only the “spots” were really peanut butter grease stains. I actually think Sid may have preferred the bed stay in this condition – sorry dude.

Once the beds were thoroughly washed and dried at the laundromat down the street, I washed my own bedding. My outer blanket is a light brown color which hides the pug hair insanely well. This plus can also be big minus though because you never realize how much pug hair has built up until you take a very close look – yeah, it needed to be washed too.

And last but not least – the pug.

We tried something new this weekend and it turned out to be a bit of an adventure. Sunday morning I walked Sid over to Urban Pooch, a hybrid pet daycare/groomer/store which provides, among many other nifty services, self-wash stations where one can bathe one’s dog, DIY-style. While waiting for a self-wash station to open up, Sid met another pug named Maxine who was there for a nail trim. I guess technically it was a nail grind because they use a dremel to gradually file down the nails. Maxine’s mom said Maxine preferred the dremel over the clippers. Has anyone ever had their nails DREMELED?! Knowing how much Sid hates to get his dew claws trimmed perhaps dremeling might be a better option.

Anyway, a tub soon opened up and we headed to the washing room in the back. As soon as the door opened, the roaring whoosh of the air dryers overwhelmed us. Sid immediately put his jets on reverse and made a quick dash back towards the front of the store. I actually had to pick him up because he planted himself so flat that he resembled a squashed cockroach.

Once the dryers had stopped, he eased up a smidge but was still freaked out about what the heck was going on in this strange place. I plunked him into the tub, got on my vinyl smock (which came in handy!), and started hosing him down. Unlike the usual zen-like state that baths invoke upon Sid, this crazy new environment prompted a squirmfest. He did manage to finally calm down by the time I applied the conditioner though I did have to squelch numerous attempts at escape.

After I dried most of the water from Sid using the towels provided (another nice element), I thought maybe we’d try the hair dryer out. But a desperate look from Sid made me realize that was probably a bad idea. So we nixed the idea and I just gave him another going over with a towel and popped a clean t-shirt on him for the walk home.

Coconut Fresh!

Hello, ladies, ladypugs, gentlemen, and gentlepugs, welcome to Pug Court.

The court is now in session. Kindly take your seats.

Today’s case concerns a pug who has been accused of taking advantage of his grandpugrents this past week while his father was away.

Mr. Siddhartha Lamont has been accused of the following:

1. Waking his grandpugrents up at 5:15 am every morning and demanding that his breakfast be served immediately.
2. Hovering around his grandpop during dinner and slurping up any scrap that fell to the floor – even things on the DO NOT EAT list: Pizza crust, crumbs, pistachio shells (at least he spat these out).
3. Almost giving his grandmom a heart attack when he hid a small plush Christmas ornament. He made her think he had EATEN the ornament when he really had it hidden down in the basement the entire time. His grandmom had to spend the entire day searching the house to make sure he hadn’t EATEN the ornament as she was afraid he’d choke on it.
4. Multiple accounts of sneaking around gates and eating his dog-mate Ellie’s food even though he promptly received his normal meals every day.
5. Plunging muzzle-first into his giant bag of dog food when his grandmom had her back turned for 2 seconds.
6. Eating birdseed (Come on, seriously?! Are you THAT desperate!).

Mr. Siddhartha Lamont, after hearing all the accusations against you, how do you plead?

Today, the general mood here at Pug Slope Midwest HQ took a 180-degree turn for the better. And all it took was the arrival of an enormous box from Sid’s favorite online store, Mr. Chewy.

Yep, Mr. Chewy doesn’t mess around. I think he intentially used the biggest box imaginable to make Sid flip his gourd. I mean, Sid goes berzerk whenever I bring anything home in a small grocery bag so you can imagine his excitement upon seeing a box the size of a dorm fridge.

It didn’t take long for his determined paws to shred through the layers of kraft paper to get to the real MEAT of the package: Salmon & Chick Pea food and Venison treats (both the crunchy and chewy varieties).

Thank you, Mr. Chewy, for brightening this pug’s day – I mean MONTH.

Well there weren’t quite 1000 pugs at Washington Square Park on Sunday, but there were at least two dozen. Despite the chilly temps and drizzle, we made it to the NYC 1000 Pugs photo shoot.

This was Sid’s second subway adventure, so of course he knew this meant he’d be hanging out in his travel bag for the duration of the subterranean journey. Stella Boo McMuffin (from Greenpoint, Brooklyn) was also in tow as she was spending the week on holiday with us at Camp Pug Slope.

Don’t worry, these aren’t “suspicious packages” – they’re just a coupla’ pugs.

When we got to the the park, Sid and Stella were greeted by none other than Puglet, from The Daily Puglet.

Mr. Puglet, himself!

He’s got amazing eyes!

Puglet’s human, Amanda, is the sole creator, organizer, scheduler, and photographer for the 1000 Pugs project. She is awesome and, by the end of the shoot, Sid wanted to go home with her (I mean she was wearing a POUCH FILLED WITH BABY CARROTS, how could Sid resist?).

You had me at ‘baby carrot’.

Amanda’s mom was there keeping an eye and Puglet and his cousin, Sophie who was as sweet as could be. While the other pugs were running around, panting, sniffing, and getting their leashes twisted into a cat’s cradle, Sophie just chilled out in Amanda’s mom’s arms.

Pretty soon it seemed like everyone we’ve ever met via the blog showed up! It was insane!

Weasley from Urban Hounds, sporting his ever-so-dapper tweed jacket.

I need a cool jacket like that, Dad!

Ping, also from Urban Hounds, was also there in a little sweatshirt, as was Tubby (who I didn’t get a good photo of – Sorry Tubby!)

Scarlet from The Scarlet Sutras kept dry up on her mom’s lap. She sure is a wise pug!

We also finally got to meet the M3 gang, who I painted portraits of a while back.

Mochi,

Macho,

and Marshmallow – he’s a self-admitted “momma’s boy”.

Mochi explained to Sid the pros/cons of having to live with two other pugs. Sid didn’t understand the concept of having to ‘share treats’.

And that’s NOT ALL! Of course Sid’s LADY-FRIEND ESPECIAL, Miss Timothy Buttons, was there with her ‘rents.

Like Sid, T-Buttz was a little pooped after her photo shoot, too. Amanda made them WORK for those treats!

Tim and Christy (from Pugnacious P) were there, on the last stop of their “Remembering Payton” tour. We still miss Payton a lot and it was really nice to hang out with them (more on that in another post, too!).

The rain started coming down pretty hard, and there was a lot of pug shivering goin’ on, especially among the M3 posse, but soon spirits were lifted when the whole Southern Fried Pugs crew rolled on up. Yes, they literally rolled up.

Um, I think the pug count just doubled.

Aside from all the pugs and people we know from blogging, there were also some adorable local NYC pugs, including one named Pixel.

Unfortunately, even with all the PUG LOVE in the air, the crummy weather was getting to pug and human alike – even Stella was dropping hints that it was time to get home.

So, like, am I supposed to get in this bag all by myself?!

Before we headed for the subway, Sid insisted we get a photo with him and Puglet.

The “Jimmy” masters.

Love,
Mom and Dad